Mr Wolfgang Nikolaus, our Senior Expert, left our international project work at the end of June 2023 after serving in Nigeria for almost two years. As an alumnus of the GS Foundation, we will remain connected to each other. We look forward to this new phase. We would like to give him the opportunity to say a few parting words at the end of his assignment:
“After a total of ten years on various police missions abroad, the chapter seemed closed. Yet, everything turned out differently…Almost three years ago, much to my surprise, I received a call from the Federal Foreign Office, offering me the opportunity to work on the police reform in Nigeria.
The project members of the GS Foundation in Abuja had to do pioneering work in the truest sense of the word, before the official start of the project at the beginning of February 2022. Yet, this initial situation was both the attraction and the challenge of the first project cycle, which runs until mid-2023.
It can be said, both for the “Nigeria Team” and for the headquarters of the GS Foundation in Essen, that all those involved, succeeded in overcoming all logistical hurdles within a manageable timeframe in order to generate visible and recognised project successes very quickly, thanks to a palpable team spirit.
Looking back, I will always remember Nigeria and the GS Foundation fondly.
Due to my own life plans and the fact that I am now 70 years old, I decided not to continue my active support of the reform process in Nigeria and to end my assignment. However, I will remain with the GS Foundation as an alumnus of the first hour and I look forward to continuing my association with the goals and staff of the GS Foundation. Exciting times lie ahead!
I can assure retired colleagues who are interested in being my successors that they will be in for an exciting and challenging time as future contributors. There are two main reasons for this:The GS Foundation has demonstrated convincingly that it can do it. The cooperation between GS Foundation and retired colleagues from the security sector provides a pool of police expertise that can accompany any police reform process in a sustainable and positive way.”
